Electronic devices having displays with openings

ABSTRACT

An electronic device may have a display. The display may have an active region in which display pixels are used to display images. The display may have one or more openings and may be mounted in a housing associated with the electronic device. An electronic component may be mounted in alignment with the openings in the display. The electronic component may include a camera, a light sensor, a light-based proximity sensor, status indicator lights, a light-based touch sensor array, a secondary display that has display pixels that may be viewed through the openings, antenna structures, a speaker, a microphone, or other acoustic, electromagnetic, or light-based component. One or more openings in the display may form a window through which a user of the device may view an external object. Display pixels in the window region may be used in forming a heads-up display.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/402,009, filed Jan. 9, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/612,222, filed Feb. 2, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No.9,543,364, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/273,851, filed Oct. 14, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,947,627, all ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

This relates to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronicdevices with displays.

Cellular telephones and other portable devices often contain displays.Displays often occupy relatively large portions of an electronic device.For example, in an electronic device cellular telephone or tabletcomputer, a display may occupy the entire front face of the device.

In many device configurations such as those in which displays occupylarge portions of a device, it can be challenging to accommodate devicecomponents within the device. For example, a display may present anobstacle to the installation and operation of device components. Unlesscare is taken, a designer may be forced to make aestheticallyunappealing design choices or may need to install device componentsusing awkward or bulky arrangements.

It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improvedarrangements for electronic devices with displays.

SUMMARY

An electronic device may have a display. The display may have an activeregion in which display pixels are used to display images. The displaymay be formed from a flexible display substrate such as an organiclight-emitting diode display substrate or other display layers.

The display may have one or more openings. The openings may be organizedin an array having rows and columns. The openings may be located in theactive portion of the display.

The display may be mounted in a housing associated with the electronicdevice. An electronic component may be mounted in alignment with the oneor more openings in the display. Signals associated with the electroniccomponent may pass through the openings. The signals may includeacoustic signals, electromagnetic signals such as radio-frequencyelectromagnetic signals, and light.

The electronic component may be a structure that uses light such as acamera, a light sensor, a light-based proximity sensor, a statusindicator light, a light-based touch sensor array, or a secondarydisplay that has display pixels that may be viewed through the openings.

The electronic component may also be a structure that usesradio-frequency signals such as an antenna. Antenna structures may, forexample, include a near field antenna or other antenna structures.

The electronic component may be an acoustic component such as amicrophone or speaker. A microphone may receive acoustic signals throughthe openings. Sound from a speaker may be emitted through the openings.

One or more openings in the display may form a window through which auser of the device may view an external object. Display pixels in theportion of the display in which the window is formed may be used informing a heads-up display. With this type of configuration, theelectronic device may display an image for the user using the displaypixels in the window region while the user simultaneously views theexternal object through the window region.

Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantageswill be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the followingdetailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device with adisplay having an opening in accordance an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic devicehaving a display with an opening in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronicdevice having a display with an opening to accommodate signalsassociated with an internal electronic component in the device inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a top view of a portion of an illustrative display having anopening in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top view of a portion of an illustrative display havingmultiple openings with curved edges organized in an array of rows andcolumns in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a portion of an illustrative display havingmultiple openings with straight edges organized in an array of rows andcolumns in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a top view of a portion of an illustrative display having anarray of rectangular openings and display pixel structures andinterconnects formed on structures surrounding the openings inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative upper displaywith openings through which display pixels on a lower display may beviewed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative device with adisplay that has openings and an antenna mounted under the openings tocommunicate with external wireless equipment in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronicdevice having a display with openings through which acoustic signalsassociated with one or more acoustic components may pass in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronicdevice having a display with an opening that allows light to reach acamera in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronicdevice having a display with an opening that allows light to reach alight sensor in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronicdevice having a display with openings to accommodate a light-basedproximity sensor in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronicdevice having a display with openings to accommodate emitted light fromlight-emitting-diode status indicators in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronicdevice having a display with openings through which light associatedwith a light-based touch sensor may operate in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronicdevice having a display with an opening to accommodate a moving membersuch as a button member in accordance with embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronicdevice having a display with an opening that is filled with air and anopening that is filled with a material such as a clear window materialin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic devicehaving a transparent window region of the type that may be formed froman opening or openings in a display in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional side view of the illustrative electronicdevice of FIG. 18 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Electronic devices such as device 10 of FIG. 1 may be provided withdisplays. A display in a device such as device 10 may have one or moreopenings. The openings may be used to allow signals to pass through thedisplay.

Device 10 of FIG. 1 may be a portable computer, a tablet computer, acomputer monitor, a handheld device, global positioning systemequipment, a gaming device, a cellular telephone, portable computingequipment, or other electronic equipment.

Device 10 may include a housing such as housing 12. Housing 12, whichmay sometimes be referred to as a case, may be formed of plastic, glass,ceramics, fiber composites, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum,etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of these materials.

Housing 12 may be formed using an unibody configuration in which some orall of housing 12 is machined or molded as a single structure or may beformed using multiple structures (e.g., an internal frame structure, oneor more structures that form exterior housing surfaces, etc.).

In some configurations, housing 12 may be formed using front and rearhousing structures that are substantially planar. For example, the rearof device 10 may be formed from a planar housing structure such as aplanar glass member, a planar plastic member, a planar metal structure,or other substantially planar structure. The edges (sidewalls) ofhousing 12 may be straight (vertical) or may be curved (e.g., housing 12may be provided with sidewalls formed from rounded extensions of a rearplanar housing wall).

As shown in FIG. 1, the front of device 10 may include a display such asdisplay 14. Display 14 may, for example, be a touch screen thatincorporates capacitive touch electrodes or a touch sensor formed usingother types of touch technology (e.g., resistive touch, light-basedtouch, acoustic touch, force-sensor-based touch, etc.). Display 14 mayinclude pixels formed from light-emitting diodes (LEDs), organic LEDs(OLEDs), plasma cells, electronic ink elements, liquid crystal display(LCD) components, or other suitable display pixel structures.

Display 14 may have an active region and an inactive region. Activeregion 22 of display 14 may lie within rectangular boundary 24. Withinactive region 22, display pixels such as liquid crystal display pixels,organic light-emitting diode display pixels, or other display pixels maydisplay images for a user of device 10. Active display region 22 may besurrounded by an inactive region such as inactive region 26. Inactiveregion 26 (a portion of display 14 that is devoid of display pixels) mayhave the shape of a rectangular ring surrounding active region 22 andrectangular boundary 24 (as an example). If desired, the width ofinactive region 26 may be minimized by using a flexible display layer toimplement display 14 (e.g., a flexible organic light-emitting-diodedisplay layer) and by bending edges of the flexible display layer thatare associated with inactive region 26 downwards away from the exposedface of display 14.

Device 10 may include input-output ports, buttons, sensors, statusindicator lights, speakers, microphones, and other input-outputcomponents. As shown in FIG. 1, for example, device 10 may include oneor more openings in inactive region 26 of display 14. For example,device 10 may have an opening in inactive region 26 to accommodatebutton 16 and an opening in inactive regions 26 to accommodate speakerport 18.

One or more openings such as openings 28 may also be formed in activeregion 22 of display 14. For example, in a display such as an organiclight-emitting-diode display, display 14 may be formed from a polymersubstrate such as a polyimide substrate on which thin-film transistors,organic light-emitting material, and a sealant layer have beendeposited. With this type of display arrangement, display 14 may have afront surface formed by the outermost layer of sealant and a rearsurface formed by the polymer substrate. Openings 28 may pass throughthe entirety of the display from the front surface to the rear surface(e.g., in active region 22 of display 14). Displays with other types oflayers may likewise have openings 28 that pass through the entirety ofthe display.

Openings 28 may allow signals to pass through display 14. These signalsmay include, for example, electromagnetic signals such asradio-frequency electromagnetic signals, acoustic signals, and light. Inthe example of FIG. 1, openings 28 have been formed in an array havingrows and columns of multiple openings. This is merely illustrative.There may be one opening in display 14, two openings in display 14, tenor more openings in display 14, one hundred or more openings in display14, one thousand or more openings in display 14, or any other suitablenumber of openings. Openings 28 may, for example, be formed in activedisplay region 22. Display 14 may also be provided with openings such asopening 28 that are located in inactive region 26.

A schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device such aselectronic device 10 of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2,electronic device 10 may include control circuitry such as storage andprocessing circuitry 30. Storage and processing circuitry 30 may includestorage such as hard disk drive storage, nonvolatile memory (e.g., flashmemory or other electrically-programmable-read-only memory configured toform a solid state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamicrandom-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in storage andprocessing circuitry 30 may be used to control the operation of device10. This processing circuitry may be based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, basebandprocessors, power management units, audio codec chips, applicationspecific integrated circuits, display driver integrated circuits, etc.

Storage and processing circuitry 30 may be used to run software ondevice 10 such as internet browsing applications,voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) telephone call applications, emailapplications, media playback applications, operating system functions,etc. The software may be used to implement control operations such asimage acquisition operations using a camera, ambient light measurementsusing an ambient light sensors, proximity sensor measurements using aproximity sensor, information display functions implemented using statusindicators such as light-emitting-diode status indicators, touch eventmeasurements using a touch sensor, functions associated with displayinginformation on multiple (e.g., layered) displays, operations associatedwith performing wireless communications functions, operations associatedwith gathering and producing audio signals, control operationsassociated with gathering and processing button press event data, andother functions in device 10.

Input-output circuitry 42 may be used to allow data to be supplied todevice 10 and to allow data to be provided from device 10 to externaldevices. Input-output circuitry 42 may include sensors 32. Sensors 32may include ambient light sensors, light-based and capacitive proximitysensors, touch sensors (e.g., light-based touch sensors and/orcapacitive touch sensors that are part of a touch screen display or thatare implemented using stand-alone touch sensor structures),accelerometers, and other sensors.

Input-output circuitry 42 may also include one or more displays such asdisplay 14. Display 14 may be a liquid crystal display, an organiclight-emitting diode display, an electronic ink display, a plasmadisplay, a display that uses other display technologies, or a displaythat uses any two or more of these display configurations. Display 14may include an array of touch sensors (i.e., display 14 may be a touchscreen). The touch sensors may be capacitive touch sensors formed froman array of transparent touch sensor electrodes such as indium tin oxide(ITO) electrodes or may be touch sensors formed using other touchtechnologies (e.g., acoustic touch, pressure-sensitive touch, resistivetouch, optical touch, etc.).

Audio components 36 may be used to provide device 10 with audio inputand output capabilities. Examples of audio components that may beincluded in device 10 include speakers, microphones, buzzers, tonegenerators, and other components for producing and detecting sound.

Communications circuitry 38 may be used to provide device 10 with theability to communicate with external equipment. Communications circuitry38 may include analog and digital input-output port circuitry andwireless circuitry based on radio-frequency signals and/or light.Wireless circuitry in communications circuitry 38 may includeradio-frequency transceiver circuitry, power amplifier circuitry,low-noise amplifiers, switches, filters, and antennas. Wirelesscommunications circuitry in circuitry 38 may, for example, includecircuitry for supporting near field communications (NFC) by transmittingand receiving near-field-coupled electromagnetic signals. For example,circuitry 38 may include a near field communications antenna and a nearfield communications transceiver. Circuitry 38 may also include acellular telephone transceiver and antennas, wireless local area networktransceiver circuitry and antennas, etc.

Device 10 may also include a battery, power management circuitry, andother input-output devices 40. Input-output devices 40 may includebuttons, joysticks, click wheels, scrolling wheels, touch pads, keypads, keyboards, cameras, light-emitting diodes and other statusindicators, etc.

A user can control the operation of device 10 by supplying commandsthrough input-output circuitry 42 and may receive status information andother output from device 10 using the output resources of input-outputcircuitry 42.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative device having adisplay with an opening. As shown in FIG. 3, device 10 may have ahousing such as housing 12 in which display 14 is mounted. Display 14may be an organic light-emitting diode display (e.g., a thin flexibledisplay having a thickness of 100 microns or less, 500 microns or less,or other suitable thickness) or may implemented using other displaytechnologies. Display 14 may cover some or all of the front surface ofdevice 10 or may be mounted in housing 12 so that other portions ofdevice 10 are covered by display 14.

One or more openings such as opening 28 of FIG. 3 may be formed indisplay 14. In particular, one or more openings such as opening 28 maybe formed in the active region of display 14. When formed in the activeregion of display 14, opening 28 will generally be surrounded by displaypixels in display 14 such as illustrative display pixels 44. Inparticular, opening 28 will be surrounded by display pixels 44 lying inthe same plane as opening 28, (i.e., the X-Y plane in the example ofFIG. 3). Display pixels 44 may be, for example, organic light-emittingdiode display pixels.

Electrical components such as component 46 may be mounted in housing 12.For example, component 46 may be mounted in lateral alignment withopening 28 (i.e., component 46 may be mounted in under opening 28 in theorientation of FIG. 3 so that component 46 and opening 28 are alignedalong lateral dimensions X and Y and lie along a common axis indimension Z). With this type of configuration, opening 28 may overlapcomponent 46 sufficiently that signals 48 that are associated with theoperation of component 46 may pass through opening 28.

If desired, component 46 may be larger than opening 28 or component 46may be smaller than opening 28. A single component 46 may also spanmultiple openings 28 and/or a single opening 28 may span multiplecomponents 46. Signals 48 may include acoustic signals (sound),electromagnetic signals such as radio-frequency electromagnetic signals,and light (e.g., visible and/or infrared light). In the example of FIG.3, device 10 is shown as having a single opening 28 and a singleassociated internal electronic device component 46. This is merelyillustrative. Device 10 may have one or more openings 28 and one or morecomponents 46 that operate using signals 48 that pass through theopenings.

FIG. 4 is a top view of a portion of display 14 in a configuration inwhich display 14 has a single opening 28. In the example of FIG. 5,display 14 has multiple openings 28 that form an array having multiplerows and columns. Each row and each column in the array of FIG. 5 maycontain multiple openings 28. Other configuration such as configurationsin which openings 28 have a random pattern or other irregular patternmay be used if desired. Openings 28 in the illustrative configurationsof FIGS. 4 and 5 have circular shapes, but may, in general, have anysuitable shapes (e.g., shapes with curved edges, shapes with straightedges, shapes with combinations of curved and straight edges, squares,hexagons, rectangles, ovals, circles, etc.). In displays with multipleopenings 28 the openings may be equal in size or may have differentsizes.

As shown in FIG. 6, display 14 may have an array of rectangular openings28. In this type of arrangement, the portions of display 14 that havenot been removed to create openings 28 form a grid shape. A grid-shapeddisplay layer (i.e., a display formed from intersecting vertical andhorizontal strips of display structures such as display substrate layerstructures) may be used to display images for a user. As shown in FIG.7, for example, display pixels 44 may formed on and supported byportions of display 14 that remain after removing display structures toform openings 28. Display pixels 44 may, for example, be formed at ornear the intersection between vertical strip portions 14V of display 14and horizontal strip portions 14H of display 14. Electricalinterconnects 50 may be formed on portions of display 14. Electricalinterconnects 50 may include portions that run vertically along stripportions 14V of display 14 and portions that run horizontally alongstrip portions 14H of display 14. The horizontal and vertical conductivelines in interconnects 50 may be used to distribute data and controlsignals to an array of display pixels 44 in display 14.

The presence of openings such as rectangular openings 28 of FIG. 7 indisplay 14 may allow an additional display to be mounted underneathdisplay 14. As shown in FIG. 7, for example, an additional displayhaving additional display pixels 52 may be mounted under display 14 sothat that display pixels 52 in the additional display are visible by auser of device 10 through openings 28. Display pixels 52 may be pixelsin an organic light-emitting-diode display, pixels in an electronic inkdisplay, pixels in a liquid crystal display, pixels in a plasma display,or pixels in other suitable types of displays.

A cross-sectional side view of a device having this type ofconfiguration is shown in FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 8, display 14 of FIG.7 may serve as an upper display and display 54 may serve as a lowerdisplay. Display 14 may have openings 28 that are aligned with (i.e.,that overlap) corresponding display pixels 52 in display 54. This allowsdisplay pixel light 56 that is produced by display pixels 52 in display54 to pass through openings 28 in display 14 for viewing by a user ofdevice 10. Display 14 may have display pixels such as display pixels 44that are formed using the portions of display 14 that have not beenremoved to form openings 28. Display pixels 44 may emit display light56. In the example of FIG. 8, display pixels 44 are shown as beingformed on the upper surface of display 14. This is merely illustrative.Display pixels 44 may be formed from structures that are embedded withinthe layers of display 14 or may be formed using other suitable displayarrangements.

A dual layer display system of the type shown in FIG. 8 may use one orboth of displays 14 and 54 in displaying information for a user. Forexample, in a first mode of operation, display 14 may be active anddisplay 54 may be inactive, in a second mode of operation, display 14may be inactive and display 54 may be active, and in an optional thirdmode, displays 14 and 54 may be simultaneously active. When display 14is active and display 54 is inactive, display pixels 44 may be used todisplay images to the user, whereas display pixels 52 may be inactivatedto conserve power. When display 54 is active and display 14 is inactive,display pixels 52 may be used to display images to the user throughopenings 28 in display layer 14 while display pixels 44 may beinactivated to conserve power. If desired, display pixels 52 and 44 maybe used simultaneously.

Control circuitry such as storage and processing circuitry 30 of FIG. 2may control the operation of displays 14 and 54. Decisions as to whichdisplay(s) to activate to use in displaying images to the user of device10 may be made by the control circuitry in device 10 in real time basedon criteria such as power consumption criteria, criteria such as imagequality criteria (e.g., desired display resolution, display contrast,display brightness), operating environment (e.g., high or low ambientlight conditions), the nature of displayed content (e.g., whether device10 is displaying text associated with a book or other document, whetherdevice 10 is displaying video, whether device 10 is displaying black andwhite content or is displaying color information, whether device 10 isdisplaying content that is moving rapidly such as game content or isdisplaying content that moves slowly such as web page content withoutvideo, etc.), or other suitable criteria.

With one illustrative configuration, display 14 may be a thin flexibledisplay such as an organic light-emitting-diode display and display 54may be a display that is capable of consuming less power duringoperation than display 14. For example, display 54 may be a liquidcrystal display or an electronic ink display. With this type of duallayer display configuration, display 14 may be used for periods of timewhen the attributes of display 14 are desired (brightness, resolution,contrast, color accuracy, absence of motion artifacts, etc.) and whenthe higher power consumption of display 14 is acceptable and display 54may be used when the attributes of display 54 are desired (e.g., lowerpotential power consumption with acceptable or preferably image displayattributes such as brightness, resolution, contrast, etc.).

As shown in FIG. 9, antenna structures 64 may be mounted under openings28 in display 14. Openings 28 may be transparent to radio-frequencysignals, so radio-frequency signals 62 may pass through display 14.

Antenna structures 64 may include one or more antennas. Examples ofantennas that may be included in antenna structures 64 include nearfield communications antennas (e.g., antennas designed forcommunications using near-field-coupled electromagnetic signals conveyedover relatively short distances such as distances of 5 cm or less, 4 cmor less, or 2 cm or less), cellular telephone antennas, and localwireless area network antennas.

Control circuitry 30 (e.g., storage and processing circuitry 30 of FIG.2) may be used to supply data to be transmitted to radio-frequencytransceiver 66 and may be used to receive incoming data fromradio-frequency transceiver 66. Radio-frequency transceiver 66 may useantenna structures 64 to transmit radio-frequency signals 62 to externalequipment 60 and may use antenna structures 64 to receiveradio-frequency signals 62 from external equipment 60.

In near field communications scenarios, external equipment 60 may be anear field communications terminal at a store or other establishment,signals 62 may be conveyed between equipment 60 and device 10 over arelatively short distance (e.g., using electromagnetic near fieldcoupling when device 10 and equipment 60 are separated by a distance of5 cm or less, 4 cm or less, or 2 cm or less), and radio-frequencytransceiver circuitry 66 may include near field communicationsradio-frequency transceiver circuitry. In other types of wirelesscommunications schemes, radio-frequency transceiver circuitry 66 such aswireless local area network transceiver circuitry and/or cellulartelephone transceiver circuitry and one or more associated antennas 64may be used to communicate with external equipment 60 that is locatedfarther from device 10 (e.g., 1 m or more, 10 m or more, 100 m or more,or 1000 m or more).

If desired, openings 28 may be used to allow acoustic signals (sound) toexit or enter device 10. As shown in FIG. 10, for example, display 14may be provided with one or more openings 28 through which acousticsignals 70 may pass. One or more acoustic components 68 may be mountedadjacent to openings 28. Acoustic components 68 may include microphonesfor gathering incoming sound through openings 28. Acoustic components 68may also include speakers, vibrators, tone generators, buzzers, andother components for generating sound that exits device 10 and housing12 through openings 28. Arrangements in which microphones andsound-generating components are both mounted under openings 28 may beused or components 68 may include only microphone structures or onlysound-generating structures.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronicdevice in which a camera is mounted adjacent to an opening in a display.As shown in FIG. 11, camera 74 may be mounted in lateral alignment withopening 28 in display 14. During operation of device 10, image light 72for camera (image sensor) 74 may be received by camera 74 throughopening 28. Opening 28 of FIG. 11 and the other drawings may, ifdesired, be formed in an active region of display 14 such as activeregion 22.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronicdevice in which a light sensor is mounted adjacent to an opening in adisplay. As shown in FIG. 12, light sensor 76 may be mounted in lateralalignment with opening 28 so that light 78 may reach light sensor 76through opening 28. If desired, light 78 may reach light sensor 76through multiple openings 28 in parallel. Light sensor 76 may be aphotodiode, phototransistor, a light detector formed from an integratedcircuit, a light detector formed from a discrete packaged device, avisible light sensor, an infrared light sensor, or other suitable lightsensor. Light 78 may be, for example, ambient light that is indicativeof the amount of brightness in the vicinity of device 10. Light sensor76 may be and ambient light sensor that is used in measuring light 78.

Control circuitry 30 may use ambient light sensor measurements fromambient light sensor 76 in taking suitable actions in device 10. Forexample, control circuitry 30 may increase the brightness of display 14when ambient light sensor readings from ambient light sensor 76 indicatethat device 10 is being used in a bright environment and/or may decreasethe brightness of display 14 when ambient light sensor readings fromambient light sensor 76 indicate that device 10 is being used in a dimenvironment.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronicdevice in which a light-based proximity sensor is mounted adjacent toone or more openings in a display. As shown in FIG. 13, proximity sensor90 may include a light source such as light source 86 and may include alight detector such as light detector 88. Light source 86 may be formedfrom a light-emitting diode such as an infrared light-emitting diode orother device that produces light 80. Light source 86 may emit light 80(e.g., infrared light or visible light). Emitted light 80 may passthrough opening 28 in display 14. Emitted light 80 that has passedthrough opening 28 may reflect off of an external object such asexternal object 82 when external object 82 is in the vicinity of device10 (e.g., less than 10 cm away, less than 3 cm away, or less than 1 cmaway). Reflected light 84 may pass through opening 28 and may bereceived by light detector 88.

Light detector 88 may be a semiconductor device such as a photodiode orphototransistor and may be used in measuring the magnitude of reflectedlight 84. When the magnitude of reflected light 84 is relatively low,device 10 can conclude that no external object is in the vicinity ofproximity detector 90 and device 10. When the magnitude of reflectedlight 84 is relatively high, device 10 can conclude that an externalobject such as external object 82 (e.g., the user's head or other bodypart) is in close proximity to proximity sensor 90 and device 10. Device10 can take appropriate actions in response to detection of an externalobject in the vicinity of device 10. For example, device 10 cantemporarily deactivate touch sensor functionality in display 14 to avoidunintended input.

In the illustrative configuration of FIG. 14, device 10 has beenprovided with internal status indicator light sources such aslight-emitting diodes 92. Control circuitry 30 may provide controlsignals to light-emitting diodes 92 to turn light-emitting diodes 92 onand off and to control the brightness of light-emitting diodes 92. Whenturned on, light-emitting diodes 92 may be used to emit status indicatorlight 94 that passes through openings 28 in display 14. Status indicatorlight 94 may be indicative of the operational status of device 10.Examples of device functions having operating status that may bereflected by the states of status indicator light-emitting diodes 92include power functions (power on/off states), audio volume functions(e.g., current volume level or mute on or off), port functions (I/Oconnector plugged in or not plugged in), wireless communicationscircuitry functions (active/inactive), display brightness (brightnesslevel or on/off), etc.

If desired, openings 28 in display 14 may be used to facilitateformation of a light-based touch sensor. A light-based touch sensorarray that is capable of ascertaining the position of a user's finger orother external object in lateral dimensions X and Y may be formed usingan array of light emitters and light detectors formed under display 14.An illustrative configuration that may be used for device 10 to form alight-based touch sensor under display 14 is shown in FIG. 15. As shownin FIG. 15, display 14 may be provided with an array of openings 28.There may be, for example, rows and columns of openings 28 in atwo-dimensional array that spans some or all of the active area ofdisplay 14. In the example of FIG. 15, the array of openings formed indisplay 14 covers only part of display 14. This is, however, merelyillustrative. Openings 28 may be arranged in an array that coverssubstantially all of the surface area of display 14 if desired. Theremay be any suitable number of openings 28 in the array (e.g., ten ormore, one hundred or more, one thousand or more, etc.). Each row andcolumn in the array may have five or more openings, ten or moreopenings, one hundred or more openings, etc.). Each opening may besurrounded by display pixels.

Light-based touch sensor array 100 may include light sources 98 andlight detectors 102. Light sources 98 may be laterally aligned withrespective openings 28 and light detectors 102 may be aligned withrespective openings 28. In particular, light sources 98 may be arrangedin a two-dimensional array under corresponding openings 28 and lightdetectors 102 may be arranged in a two-dimensional array undercorresponding openings 28. For example, sources 98 and detectors 102 maybe arranged in a checkerboard pattern or other pattern that intersperseslight sources 98 among light detectors 102. Light sources 98 may beformed from light-emitting diodes (e.g., visible or infraredlight-emitting diodes) or other sources of light. Light detectors 102may be formed from semiconductor light sensor components such as siliconphotodiodes, phototransistors, etc.

During operation, sources 98 may emit light 104. Light 104 may passthrough openings 28. When no external objects are present in thevicinity of touch sensor 100, light 104 will not be reflected towardsdetectors 102 in sensor 100. When, however, an external object such as auser's finger or other object 96 is present in the vicinity (e.g., lessthan 2 cm, less than 0.5 cm, less than 0.1 cm, etc.) of one or more oflight emitters 98, some of light 104 may be reflected back towards touchsensor 100 as reflected light 106. Reflected light 106 may pass throughopenings 28 in display 14 and may be received by detectors 102 inlight-based touch sensor 100.

Control circuitry 30 may process received light signal strength datafrom light sensors 102 in light-based touch sensor 100. For example,control circuitry 30 may determine the X and Y location at whichreflected light magnitude is greatest and thereby determine the locationof object 96. Signal strength interpolation and other processing schemesmay be used to enhance X and Y resolution. By using reflected lightmeasurements through openings 28 to determine the location of eternalobject 96 in dimensions X and Y, an arrangement of the type shown inFIG. 15 may be used to provide display 14 with touch sensingcapabilities.

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative configurationthat may be used for electronic device 10 when it is desired to allowmoving members to travel within openings 28. In the example of FIG. 16,device 10 has control circuitry 30 formed from one or more internalcomponents mounted on a substrate such as substrate 114. Substrate 114may be, for example, a printed circuit board substrate. Printed circuitboard substrate 114 may be formed from a rigid printed circuit boardmaterial such as fiberglass-filled epoxy (e.g., FR4) or a flexibleprinted circuit board substrate such as a sheet of polyimide or otherpolymer (e.g., a flex circuit). Control circuitry 30 may be used tocontrol the operation of one or more buttons or other input-outputcomponents with moving members. In the example of FIG. 16, a button hasbeen provided in device 10 that has a button member such as buttonmember 108 that travels vertically in up and down directions 110 withinopening 28 in display 14. When pressed inwardly by a user's finger orother object, button member 108 may press against switch 112. Whenbutton member 108 is not pressed inwardly, switch 112 may bias buttonmember 108 outwardly (i.e., vertically upward in the configuration ofFIG. 16). Control circuitry 30 can monitor the status of switch 112(e.g., open/closed) to determine the state of the button.

Display 14 may be formed from one or more layers of material. Forexample, when implemented as a liquid crystal display, display 14 mayinclude upper and lower polarizer layers and, sandwiched between theupper and lower polarizer layers, may include a thin-film transistorlayer, a layer of liquid crystal material, and a color filter layer. Inthe example of FIG. 17, display 14 has been implemented using an organiclight-emitting diode design. As shown in FIG. 17, display 14 may have anupper (outermost) surface such as surface 116 and may have a lower(innermost) surface such as surface 118. One or more layers of materialmay be interposed between surfaces 116 and 118. Openings 28 (e.g.,left-hand opening 28A and right-hand opening 28B in the FIG. 17 example)may pass completely through display 14 from upper surface 116 to lowersurface 118 (as an example). Configurations in which recesses are formedpartway through the layers of display 14 may also be used to facilitatethe passage of signals through display 14, if desired.

Organic light-emitting diode display 14 of FIG. 17 may have a thickness(vertical dimension) of about 200 microns or less, 100 microns or less,or other suitable thickness. Cover glass layers may, if desired, beomitted from device 10 as shown in FIG. 17 to reduce weight and ensurethat device 10 is compact. A substrate such as substrate 126 may serveas a supporting layer for other display layers in display 14. Substrate126 may be formed from a thin flexible sheet of material such as apolyimide layer or a sheet of other polymer material (as examples).Thin-film devices 124 may be formed on substrate 126. Thin-film devices124 may include thin-film circuitry such as thin-film transistors (e.g.,polysilicon and/or amorphous silicon transistors), conductiveinterconnects (e.g., interconnect lines formed from patterned metal,pattered indium tin oxide or other patterned transparent conductivematerials, or other conductive structures), and other circuitry. Organiclight-emitting material such as material 112 may be formed on top ofthin-film devices 124. An encapsulating layer such as sealant layer 120may be used to encapsulate and protect the layer of organiclight-emitting material and other underlying structures in display 14.

As shown in FIG. 17, openings such as opening 28A may pass through thelayers of display 14 to form a passageway between the interior of device10 and the exterior of device 10. Openings 28 such as opening 28A may befilled with air and may be used to convey acoustic signals,radio-frequency signals, and light. If desired, some openings 28 indisplay 14 such as opening 28B may be filled with a material other thanair. For example, opening 28B may be filled with material 128 such asglass, polymer, ceramic, multiple materials such as these, or othersuitable materials.

Material 128 may be a radio-transparent material that allowsradio-frequency signals to be transmitted and received through opening28B. Material 128 may be clear (e.g., transparent in the visible and/orinfrared portions of the light spectrum) to allow light to betransmitted and received through opening 28B. Colored materials may alsobe used in implementing material 128 (e.g., to provide optical filteringcapabilities to opening 28B).

If desired, device 10 may be provided with one or more transparentwindow portions. As shown in FIG. 18, for example, device 10 may beprovided with a transparent portion such as window 130. Window 130 maybe formed by creating transparent window regions in the front and rearsurfaces of device 10. The rear window opening may, for example, beformed from a clear glass plate or other transparent structure. Thefront window opening may be formed from an array of openings 28 indisplay 14 or from a single larger opening 28 in display 14.

During operation of a device such as device 10 of FIG. 18, a user(depicted as viewer 132 of FIG. 18) may view an object such as object134 by looking through window 130 in direction 138. Display 14 may havedisplay pixels that are located within window 130. These pixels may beactivated as a user views object 134 through window 130 to form aheads-up display in which an image is displayed by the display pixelswhile the external object is simultaneously visible to the user ofdevice 10.

A cross-sectional side view of device 10 of FIG. 18 taken along line 142and viewed in direction 140 is shown in FIG. 19. As shown in FIG. 19,display 14 may have openings 28 that provide a portion of display 14with sufficient transparency to form window 130. In the example of FIG.19, openings 28 are organized in an array in part of the active regionof display 14 and are interspersed among display pixels 44 andinterconnects 50 in display 14. If desired, openings 28 (or one or morelarger openings 28) may be formed in other portions of display 14 (e.g.,inactive portions of display 14). The arrangement of FIG. 19 is merelyillustrative.

Housing 12 may have a rear housing window structure such as window 136.Window 136 may be formed from clear glass, clear plastic, or othersuitable transparent structures. Control circuitry 30 may be implementedusing components mounted on a substrate such as printed circuit 114.During operation, control circuitry 30 can control images displayed ondisplay 14 within window region 130, so that window region 130 serves asa heads-up display. With this type of configuration, viewer 132 may viewexternal objects such as object 134 through window 130 and correspondingrear window 136 by looking in direction 138. At the same time that auser is viewing object 134 through windows 130 and 136, controlcircuitry 30 may display images on display 14 using display pixels 44 inwindow 130. The images that are displayed may relate to the user'scurrent surroundings, may relate to camera information (e.g., when theheads-up display is used as a camera viewfinder), or other suitableinformation.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this inventionand various modifications can be made by those skilled in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: a housing thatencloses an interior cavity; an electronic component mounted in theinterior cavity; and a display mounted in the housing, wherein thedisplay comprises a pixel array that overlaps the electronic component,and wherein signals associated with the electronic component passthrough the display.
 2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 whereinthe display comprises a polymer substrate on which the pixel array isformed.
 3. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the polymersubstrate comprises first and second opposing surfaces and wherein thedisplay has an opening that passes from the first surface to the secondsurface.
 4. The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein displaycomprises a layer of thin-film transistor circuitry, a layer of organicemissive material, and a layer of sealant.
 5. The electronic devicedefined in claim 4 wherein the opening passes through the layer ofthin-film transistor circuitry, the layer of organic emissive material,and the layer of sealant.
 6. The electronic device defined in claim 5wherein the electronic component aligns with the opening.
 7. Theelectronic device defined in claim 3 further comprising a transparentpolymer in the opening.
 8. The electronic device defined in claim 3further comprising a color filter material in the opening that blockssome wavelengths of light and transmits other wavelengths of light. 9.The electronic device defined in claim 3 further comprising an infraredfilter in the opening that transmits infrared light and blocks visiblelight.
 10. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the signalscomprise optical signals that are transmitted from the electroniccomponent.
 11. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein thesignals comprise optical signals that are detected by the electroniccomponent.
 12. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein thesignals comprise acoustic signals transmitted from the electroniccomponent.
 13. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein thesignals comprise radio-frequency electromagnetic signals.
 14. Anelectronic device, comprising: a housing that surrounds an interiorcavity; an electronic component mounted in the interior cavity; and adisplay mounted in the housing, wherein the display has an active areawith an array of pixels, wherein the active area of the display overlapsthe electronic component, and wherein signals associated with theelectronic component pass through the display.
 15. The electronic devicedefined in claim 14 wherein the display comprises a substrate with anarray of openings, and wherein the signals pass through the array ofopenings.
 16. The electronic device defined in claim 15 wherein theopenings pass from a first surface of the substrate to an opposingsecond surface of the substrate.
 17. The electronic device defined inclaim 14 where the signals are emitted by the electronic component. 18.An electronic device, comprising: a housing; an electronic componentmounted in the housing; and a display having an array of pixels thatoverlap the electronic component, wherein the display comprisestransmissive regions between the pixels, and wherein signals associatedwith the electronic component pass through the transmissive regions ofthe display.
 19. The electronic device defined in claim 18 wherein thedisplay comprises a polymer substrate and wherein the transmissiveregions are formed from openings that pass from a first surface of thepolymer substrate to an opposing second surface of the polymersubstrate.
 20. The electronic device defined in claim 19 wherein thepixels comprise organic light-emitting diode pixels that overlap theelectronic component, and wherein the electronic component comprises asensor that detects optical signals through the openings in the polymersubstrate.